MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — The Lost Trident Sessions (review)

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — The Lost Trident Sessions album cover Album · 1999 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
The Lost Trident Sessions is a real treat for fusion fans - the long-lost third album from the band's legendary original lineup, officially released after sitting in the vaults for 25 years. This time around John McLaughlin doesn't dominate the songwriting to the same extent as he did on the first two albums, with each of the other members except Billy Cobham contributing a composition of their own. (Billy, of course, had recorded his solo album Spectrum mere weeks previously, and so had already found an outlet for most of his compositions there.) The album leans closer to rock than the first two classic Mahavishnu albums, and has a tranquil, spacey atmosphere which lacks much in the way of the furiously fast playing of those discs. It's a mild departure for the Orchestra, but an intriguing one, and although the album was never finished it's clear that just a little more polish would have yielded a third essential fusion classic. But the skilled playing masks the discontent and personality clashes in the band that had already begun coming out by this point - to the extent that apparently some of the participants weren't even talking to each other - and the lineup would disintegrate before the album was completed, leaving McLaughlin to construct an entirely new lineup and release the live album Between Nothingness and Eternity - which consists of extended versions of the first three tracks from these sessions - instead of this one.

On balance, I wouldn't say this album is quite as essential to fusion listeners as the first two. It certainly wasn't as influential - how could it have been when it wasn't released? - and the new material, whilst good, still needs polish to come up to the standards of The Inner Mounting Flame or Birds of Fire. Still, anyone who's listened to those albums should regard this disc as the vital next step in any exploration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's output.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

6 Eclectic Fusion
KROKOFANT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Spring In Stockholm Live At Konserthuset, 1959 Cool Jazz
GERRY MULLIGAN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mikolaj Trzaska, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple vol.3 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mikolaj Trzaska, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple, Vol.1 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mikołaj Trzaska / Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple Vol.2 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

FASCINATING RHYTHM - The Amazing Keystone Big Band feat. Neima Naouri
THE AMAZING KEYSTONE BIG BAND
snobb· 1 day ago
Alicante
RENAUD GARCIA-FONS
js· 1 day ago
She's Forty with Me
WILTON CRAWLEY
js· 1 day ago
Tall Tillie's Too Tight
WILTON CRAWLEY
js· 1 day ago
Rhoda Scott Ladies and Gentlemen - special guest : David Linx
RHODA SCOTT
snobb· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed